Abstract - Molecular markers are widely used in biology to address
questions related to ecology, genetics and evolution. In bees, molecular
studies addressing those issues have focused on Apis and Apis mellifera. Here we describe
examples where molecular markers from mtDNA and microsatellite analyses were
applied to stingless bees species. The data obtained, although in some cases
preliminary, have already proven useful to infer hypotheses about phylogeny,
population dynamics, species validity and the evolution of this group of
bees.